pharmacopoeia

Or phar·ma·co·pe·ia

[fahr-muh-kuh-pee-uh]

noun

Pharmacology.

1. a book published usually under the jurisdiction of the government and containing a list of drugs, their formulas, methods for making medicinal preparations, requirements and tests for their strength and purity, and other related information.

2. a stock of drugs.

pharmacopoeia

/ ˌfɑːməkəˈpiːə /

noun

1. an authoritative book containing a list of medicinal drugs with their uses, preparation, dosages, formulas, etc

Other Word Forms

• pharmacopoeial adjective
• pharmacopoeist noun
• pharmacopoeic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pharmacopoeia¹

1615–25; < New Latin < Greek pharmakopoiía drug-maker's art, equivalent to phármako ( n ) drug + -poi ( os ) making ( poi ( eîn ) to make + -os adj. suffix) + -ia -ia

Word History and Origins

Origin of pharmacopoeia¹

C17: via New Latin from Greek pharmakopoiia art of preparing drugs, from _pharmaco- + -poiia, from poiein to make

Example Sentences

Fortunately, Borneo’s rich biodiversity offers a vast pharmacopoeia.

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She added, “There’s a pharmacopoeia out there waiting to be explored.”

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Greek physician, wrote in his famous five-volume pharmacopoeia of plants and their medicines, “De Materia Medica”: “The Herb Scorpius resembleth the tail of the Scorpion, and is good against his bitings.”

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He saw his “pharmacopoeia” of medicinal plants, lavender, daffodils, sea kale and wild bees as therapy, and, in an interview for British television a year before his death, said: “I should’ve been a gardener.”

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He painted a familiar picture of a teen and preteen pharmacopoeia.

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Related Words

• fund 
• goods 
• inventory 
• reserve 
• stockpile 
• store 
• supply